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The Longshot
}} Haley attempts a last-ditch effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Cast * Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ * Elan ◀ ▶ * Durkon Thundershield ◀ ▶ * Hinjo ◀ ▶ * Many Azure City Soldiers * Redcloak ◀ ▶ * Hobgoblin General ◀ ▶ * Fiendish Mammoth ◀ ▶ * A Hobgoblin Ninja * Four Hobgoblin Clerics * A Company of Hobgoblin Archers * Many Hobgoblin Soldiers * Eighteen Zombies Transcript Redcloak rides his mammoth with his general past the breach in the wall. Redcloak: Welcome to scenic Azure City, men. Redcloak: Legions 12, 15, 22 and, let’s say 47. You’re with me. Hobgoblin General: The rest of you, continue your march and eliminate all opposition. General: How will we take that castle’s walls with only four legions? Redcloak: General, it’s important to realize that there are plans of which I haven’t yet informed you. Cut to an Azurite soldier with an halberd standing next to a winch. A sign on the wall reads: "CASTLE GATE WINCH". Taped to that sign is a hand written note which reads: "Don't touch!" Redcloak (inset): I mean, I’m not going to tell you every single little strategy that I devised in advance. An orange-skinned ninja stabs the soldier in the back, killing him. Redcloak (inset): Some things have got to be a surprise, don’t you think? The gate and portcullis begin to open, "clanka clanka clanka clanka" Female Solider: What the—? Solider #1: NO! Hobgoblin General: Sir, why didn’t we just do that with the city wall? Redcloak: Less likely to have worked. Redcloak: They guard the first line of defense better than the second line. Redcloak: Also, if we had done it then, we wouldn’t have been able to do it again now. Redcloak: Sometimes, you have to leave a few things in reserve, just on the off-chance that you start winning. The hobgoblins and zombies vastly outnumber the thin line of Azurites holding the castle gate. Haley, Elan, Durkon and Hinjo stand with some soldiers on the city wall above the scene looking in. Elan: Weren’t there a whole lot more good guys before? Haley: Dead, or deserted. Durkon: Tha palace gate be open! Hinjo: No! We can’t let those goblin leaders get in the palace. Soldier #2: How can we stop them? There’s a billion hobgoblins in the way. On the wall. Hinjo: Durkon, do you have any spells— Durkon: —Tha can reach tha far? Nay, lad, na prepared. Haley: I can do it. Elan: Haley, that’s, like, WAY outside your Sneak Attack range. Haley: But it’s not outside my longbow range. Haley: I don’t need to kill him in one shot, I just need to peg him hard so that he looks over here and sees a bunch of high-level PC’s. Haley: Then, he can come over and fight us instead of going into the castle. Elan: Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot the goblin on the red elephant! Haley looses an arrow, "TWANG!", which flies across the outer bailey towards Redcloak. Redcloak marches his mammoth into the castle gate, crushing a soldier on the way. The arrow speeds towards him. The arrow misses, embedding itself into the gate behind him, "thunk!" Three more arrows follow, all missing Redcloak, who has now continued into the passage, and hitting the gate, "thunk! thunk! thunk!" Haley: What the hell??? One of them should have hit! Durkon: Lass, it were an awful difficult shot. Haley: Exactly! It was totally dramatic! How did I miss? Durkon: I think maybe ye be spendin’ too much time wit Elan… Haley: I mean, why spend four panels watching the arrow if it wasn’t going to do anything??? Hinjo: It got someone’s attention, all right… A company of hobgoblin archers look up, their cleric commanders barking orders. Hinjo (inset): Just not the right someones. Elan (inset): Oh man, Roy’s butt would sure come in handy right now! D&D Context * A Rogue's Sneak Attack can only be made within 30 feet. * The maximum range of a long bow is 1000 feet, but its range increment is 100 feet. each range increment beyond the first imposes a cumulative -2 penalty to hit. * Elan's song is a use of Inspire Competance, an ability of bards when they use music. It gives Haley a +2 on her attack roll, effectively negating the effects of one range increment. Trivia * Roy took three arrows in the butt for Elan in #425. External Links * 454}} View the comic * 44748}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Bardic Music Category:The Battle of Azure City